The Third Son

In the Aartiran noble family, the birth of a son can be both blessing and curse: a noble man may spend years praying to Ylessa for an heir, a desire that oft consumes him in his relationship with his wife and the rest of his family.  Should Ylessa grant his wish, the birth of the son is celebrated in accordance with the highest standards of festivity, such that even the poorest of houses will bathe in fine wine and tabac smoke.  The House is at ease, and the birth of the son is a blessing.

That is the narrative of the first son.  The birth of the second son is different, for he is not an heir.  What was a blessing becomes a curse of sorts, for now a terrible weight is on the noble man’s shoulders.  The holdings of the family will pass to the first, but the second is without a livelihood.  Should both sons survive infancy and early childhood, a division must be made. 

Commonly, the second son is raised into a martial life, vying for station upon the battlefield – as it has been said before, ‘One son for the family, the other for the sword.’  When the youth is strong enough to lift a blade, he is taken from his home to become a ward of some enterprising knight or another.  Instead of machination, he learns marching; his horse is not some gelding outfitted for parade, but a charger, a stallion bred for aggression and war. He is drilled in death instead of the demagoguery that is his elder brother’s discipline.  Not surprisingly, the military tradition teaches a sense of loyalty and practicality of sufficient weight to smother any political ambitions... and so the fertile bloodlines of the noble families are maintained with minimal bloodshed.

That is the narrative of the second son.  Should fate present the noble man with yet another son, once more he is faced with a choice.  Here, as before, the old wisdom prescribes a different fate: 'If the Gods should give one a third son, give him back.'  Thus is it tradition for the third son to be a man of the cloth.  Where the second son marches, the third meditates.  Above all he learns piety, bringing wisdom into the world instead of war.  For this son, more than the others, the future is tied to concerns much larger than himself -- larger than nobles, or even nations.  His path is a line traced by the hands of the Gods, and none can say where or how violently it will cross the fate of men.

My name is Tobias de Lamere, of the First Family of Cape Viraldi, and I am a third son.